Card Swaps...

Every month I host a card swap and have a great group of ladies participating throughout the US and Canada. These are the cards I made for this month's card swap.

For the regular swap, I used the Stampin' Up! True Friend Stamp set, Bashful Blue, Apricot Appeal and real Rust cardstock and coordinated it with some 5 Gypsies paper and some ribbon I had on hand.



The Challenge for this month was the Criss Cross card. I used Stampin' Up! retired Just Delightful Scrappin' Kit to pull these cards together. I loved this kit and I only have one left! :-D


As I am heading to Australia for two weeks tonight and not all swaps are in as yet, I will swap them out and take photos of each card and post them when I get back.

Flowers a' plenty

Yippee camera has been found and battery is charged up!

I saw this cute tutorial for making vases so I thought I would give it a try myself. It is quite easy to do. All you need is an oval punch (you could also use a round or square punch), a pair of scissors, a sponge and ink.

Punch out your vase shape, for oval or round, you would need to snip the top and bottom of the oval to make your vase.

Using the same color ink as your paper, sponge ink on one side to create shadowing and wallah, you are done.

The first card resembles the tutorial I saw except they punched out their flowers as opposed to using prima's and I added the bling brads. The second card, I got a little more creative.

Sentiment are deliberately left off so I can stamp a Happy Birthday, thanks etc, as needed.



Happy Memorial Day everyone!

I wish....

I wish I could post the cards I have made over the last couple of days but I can't find my camera! The beauty of my camera is that it's a sleek, light and very slim camera. It fits in my handbag and pockets without weighing it done. The downside is it's small and when you place it down in a "safe" place, well....good luck remembering where that "safe" place was!

So, what to share?

Are you all thumbs when it comes to ribbon tying? I know I am, so when I stumbled across these bow tying videos on You Tube, I screamed a huge Hallelujah!! There are a ton of them on there and it's very easy to become distracted and it is VERY easy to end up watching hours of You Tube videos, so be warned!! :-D If you find any cool ribbon tying video's share them with me...I would love to see them!



















Also, I have been reading a lot of campaign news as one does and I came across this cool virtual campaign badge on Yahoo! News. OK, OK, I know I know, I don't usually share any views on politics or religion because as you can imagine, conversations turn ugly very quickly and that's not my intention. I just think the badge is cool! So skip off and go grab yours, regardless of who you support!

See latest stories on Yahoo! News

Camper's Happy Birthday

I used Beate's weekly sketch #48 for this layout. I decided before making the card that I was going to use masculine colors and a masculine theme as I always tend to make girlie cards - sounds a lot easier than what it was. I had to refrain several times from adding bling and flowers to it and well, I suppose it's OK....I can't say I am thrilled with it. The 3D tree I added last as it needed a little something....and I think that's my favorite part of the card...LOL. For the tree, I used Floral (see i did get a flower like thing in!) Paper leaves I had in a bucket I found the other day.



Stamps: A Muse Tent stamp, Stampin' Up! Dot's background stamp, Impression Obsession Happy Birthday stamp
Paper: All Stampin' Up!- Navy, Bashful Blue and retired Buckaroo Blue, Vanilla
Ink: All Stampin' Up! - Black, Always Artichoke, Blush Blossom, Sahara Sand, Bashful Blue, Buckaroo Blue
Misc: Blender pen, floral paper leaves.

Weather Warning...

Here I am sitting in my office feverishly cranking out work. A sweat bead rolls down the side of my face and I think to myself..."Self, typing like a maniac sure does give you a work out!" I then realize that it's getting unusually warm in my office so off I go to the weather.com and check out the forecast for today.

Severe weather alert??? it's 91 degrees already!!!!!!!! It's going to hit 101 today????!!!!!!!!!! (for my family that's 38 degrees Celsius!)



I click the Severe Weather Alert link and this is what they say - my little notes are in lower case :-)

THE CITY OF SACRAMENTO WILL REACH AT OR NEAR THE CENTURY
MARK ON THURSDAY AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND. 
OFFICIALLY (well, I have something unofficially to tell them
....Surprise!!  lol) SUMMER WILLNOT ARRIVE UNTIL FRIDAY JUNE
20TH AT 459 PM PDT. RESIDENTS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR THE
UPCOMING HEAT OVER THE WEEKEND (eerrr....maybe we should
have been told this earlier!!)AND THE COMING SUMMER OF 2008.

RESIDENTS (tourists....don't worry about it, you wont be affected) 
SHOULD PLEASE (wow..that's polite of them...should and please next to
each other...I think that's a grammar faux pas in someone's book)
FOLLOW THESE HEAT SAFETY TIPS...

*DRINK PLENTY OF WATER (check)
*STAY IN AIR CONDITIONED PLACES BETWEEN 11 AM AND 7 PM.
(I ran and turned on the air conditioner, so check!)
*CHECK ON THE ELDERLY...ESPECIALLY OVERNIGHT. (yep, I am
coming knocking on your door at 2am to make sure you are ok...)
*NEVER LEAVE SMALL CHILDREN OR PETS ALONE IN A CAR. (errr...heello!!)
*REDUCE OUTDOOR STRENUOUS ACTIVITY. (yeah baby....no after
dinner 4 mile walk today!)
*DRESS APPROPRIATELY TO AVOID SUN BURN
(that means no shorts and tank tops people...jeans and long sleeved shirts please!)

FOR DOWNTOWN SACRAMENTO...and here comes the trivia which is quite interesting...

1. LAST YEAR...THE FIRST 100 DEGREE READING OR HIGHER
OCCURRED ON JUNE 13TH.
2. THE TOTAL NUMBER OF 100 DEGREE READINGS OR HIGHER
IN 2007 WAS 16.
3. THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF DAYS WITH 100 DEGREE READINGS
OR HIGHER IN A CALENDAR YEAR IS 22.
4. THE MOST 100 DEGREE READINGS OR HIGHER IN A MONTH
IS 17...SET JULY 1988 AND IN JULY 2003.
5. THE MOST 100 DEGREE READINGS OR HIGHER IN A CALENDAR
YEAR IS 41 TIMES SET IN 1988.
6. THE EARLIEST IT HAS REACHED 100 DEGREES OR HIGHER
IN A CALENDAR YEAR IS MAY 4TH IN 1990.
7. THE LATEST IT HAS REACHED 100 DEGREES OR HIGHER IN
A CALENDAR YEAR IS OCTOBER 10TH IN 1991.
8. THE RECORD FOR MOST CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITH 100 DEGREE
READINGS OR HIGHER IS 11 SET IN 2006...FROM JULY 16TH TO

JULY 26TH.
9. THE RECORD FOR MOST CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITHOUT REACHING 100
DEGREES IS OVER 1100 DAYS SET AUGUST 1879 TO AUGUST 1882.
10. THE LEAST NUMBER OF 100 DEGREE READINGS OR HIGHER IN A
CALENDAR YEAR IS NONE...SET 3 TIMES. THE LAST OCCURRENCE WAS IN 1907.
11. THE LEAST NUMBER OF 100 DEGREE READINGS OR HIGHER THE LAST 25 YEARS
DURING A CALENDAR YEAR IS 5 TIMES SET IN 1982.
12. THE HOTTEST DAY IN RECENT MEMORY WAS 112 DEGREES ON JULY
10TH 2002.
13. THE HOTTEST DAY IN SACRAMENTO HISTORY WAS 114 DEGREES SET
ON JULY 17TH 1925. ACTUALLY THE TEMPERATURE REACHED 113.6 DEGREES ON
THAT DAY WHICH ROUNDED UP TO 114 DEGREES.
14. IT HAS REACHED 113 DEGREES JUST ONE ADDITIONAL TIME IN
SACRAMENTO HISTORY ON JULY 14TH 1972.

HAVE A SAFE AND ENJOYABLE SUMMER (hang on...summer
doesn't start until June 20!) FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA.

OK...now that the shock of the temperature is over, it's back to work for me!

Have a good day everyone and stay cool!!

Monogram note cards

Here are some Monogram note cards I have made. My Inner Circle Swap members each received a personalized monogrammed note card a couple of months ago as a thank you from me and I loved them so much, I made more :-D

I used Stampin' Up!'s scalloped notes, Stampin' Up! Boho Background stamp set, versamark pad, ivory taffeta ribbon, rhinestones and chipboard letters from K&Co's Hopscotch collection.

Put it all together and wallah, some super cute personalized note cards!

Mother's Day Card

Happy Mothers Day everyone!

Here is the Mothers Day card I made using Stampin' Up! Touch of Nature stamp set, SU Grey and Soft Sky cardstock, My Mind's Eye designer paper, SU! ribbon, Stickles, SU! Markers and of course, my sewing machine.

Moving

Here is a card I made for a friend who is moving house shortly and considering she is of Irish decent, the sentiment is totally fitting.



Supplies:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, SU Designer paper
Stamps: Penny Black "Moving!!" and A Muse "Irish Proverb"
Ink: All SU, Black, Tempting Turquoise, Cameo Coral, Old Olive, Basic Brown, Close to Cocoa
Misc: Blender Pen, Black Buttons, Ribbon, Diamond Glaze

Inner Circle Card Swaps

**Drum roll please** :-)

The cards are in for the April Inner Circle Card Swap and here they are!

Ladies, great cards once again...thank you! I hope you all enjoy your cards :)

Regular Swaps:










Monthly Challenge: Flap Cards





If you would like to join this monthly card swap, please email me at marie@stamplounge.com